For the first time ever, you'll be able to text Butterball's turkey help line

For the first time ever, struggling Thanksgiving hosts can
contact Butterball's iconic help line via text with questions
about preparing turkey.

Butterball, which sells roughly 1 billion pounds of the bird a
year, has been helping people cook turkey since 1981 when it
began hosting a help line you could call. This is the first year
you'll be able to contact the help line by sending a text message
to 844-877-3456.The text line will be
open24/7 from November 17
through November 24.

"We're just evolving based on consumers' needs," said Sue Smith,
Butterball's talk line codirector who has been manning the phones
for 17 years. "It's the natural progression for the talk line."

The company employs roughly 50 experts to answer more than
100,000 calls every November and December.

As the volume of calls has increased, Smith and codirector Nicole
Johnson say that Butterball has worked to open up more channels
of communication.

A Butterball help line operator in
training.Butterball/Facebook

While this is the first year Butterball is communicating
via text, the company has started using Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube videos to help panicked cooks. The
company has Spanish-speaking turkey experts on the line. As the
company noticed an influx of men calling in with turkey
questions, it hired more male talk line experts.

Ultimately, Smith and Johnson say that even as technology
has evolved, most queries from callers are the same year after
year.

Some forget to thaw their turkeys. Others don't know
how big of a bird to buy, or simply have no idea of how to
roast the bird. A few call every year for
reassurance. Smith said one woman has
called every Thanksgiving for the last 20 years for a one-on-one
pep talk.

No matter the problem, Johnson, Smith, and 48 other Butterball
employees will all be working for at least eight hours
on Thanksgiving Day, manning the phones to answer your
questions, whether they come via call or text.